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this page is dedicated to the dvorak keyboard named after the guy who invented it. why dvorak you ask? simple. it deserves some attention. i am typing this page right now using a dvorak layout and you wouldnt have known the difference if i hadnt told you. so whats the big deal with this layout. easy. its faster. but how can that be you might ask? easy. all your most commonly used keys are on the home row. you will notice on the dvorak keyboard all the vowells are handled by the left hand. this is because most commonly you will type a constinant after a vowell. not always but it is more common. the constinants on your left hand under where your fingers rest are the most common in the english language: dhtns-. the top row is dedicated to the next most common ones: ',.pyfgcrl, and finally the bottom row to the least used ones. dont believe me, watch this: ;qjkxbmwvz. ok so they arent all constinants, but you get the point. does it make sense yet? if not go chew on glass. so why arent we all using this brand new layout? well for starters it was invented in the 30s. but heres why: the first typewriter layouts were simple abcdefg layouts. no strategic layout whatsoever. people became pretty good at those layouts and they would type so fast that they would constantly jam the typewriter. for those of you who dont know what a typewriter is, click here. so the solution was to change the layout so that the most common keys were physically farther apart (not on the layout but on the strike bar) so that the keys that would be hit in sequence would be far enough away to avoid each other. rather than use the standard layout, and redesign the typewriter, they just changed the layout. at the time they got away with that because the typewriter was just beginning to catch on. thus with just smidge more strategy and thought, was born the qwerty layout. now look at your keyboard again. put some thought into it. dont hurt yourself. ok now look where your pinky rests... how often do you need ; or :? serously. how often do you type a "."? or a ","? and you have to move your finger down at an akward angle to get to those keys. where did they put them on the dvorak? easier to reach up than down. we'll do some faqs now (which i always make up until someone else asks a question). q: how much better is the dvorak keyboard than the qwerty? a: you should be typing at your current qwerty wpms in about 1 month if you use your dvorak keyboard everyday. q: will i be able to type with a qwerty keyboard if i convert to dvorak? a: depends. everyone i talk to says yes its easy to switch back and forth. for me, no. i learned the dvorak keyboard, and then for a while i switched to qwerty for work, until i learned how to turn on the layout at work. i dont think its a "dvorak overwrote my qwerty skill" as much as its a "typing isnt like a bike." if i think about what im doing i can type on a qwerty, but no it feels akward and im slow. q: will i need expensive hardware or fancy software to use the layout? a: not at all. windows include 2 very nice features. 1 is the dvorak layout standard. 2 is the ability to set a simple hotkey (i used to use alt-shift) to switch between the dvorak and the qwerty. to configure the dvorak layout (assuming vista, but xp is similar) goto the control panel, clock language and region, regional and language options, keyboard and languages, change keyboards, from there: 1) to add the dvorak keyboard click keyboard and click add and choose us-dvorak 2) to make it the default setting change it as the "default input language" 3) to set up a hotkey to change layouts click the advanced key settings, click "between input languages", change key sequence, and pick a hotkey for "switch keyboard layout". windows does something funny though. it makes your layout switch program specific. to some thats nice. to some thats annoying. so if you changed the default language all open programs will still be in qwerty until you reopen them or reboot. windows will still be in qwerty as well until you use the hotkey. a reboot will make sure everything is dvorak (unless you just wanted to switch to the layout to try or while learning. q: is the dvorak layout hard to learn? a: no. many people print out the layout to refer to it. you will type slow when you start but you will get the hang of it. i popped all the keys off my keyboard and moved them. they didnt all match in height but i looked at the keys and practiced and then practiced without looking. i dont recommend this way. it allows for bad habits to form, like thinking 1 key is a different key and constantly making the same mistake. but moving all the keys is handy for when you just need to find 1 key. once you have the layout learned you can turn it on on any computer you want and use the layout to your hearts content (without moving keys of couse). i recommend contacting your system admin at work for help turning it on if you dont have that kind of access privilage. q: what happens when the unstoppable force meets the unmovable object? a: they sit down for tea. q: isnt the dvorak layout inherently evil? a: no. qwerty users think the layout is evil because its different, so people dont understand it, and people tend to fear what they dont understand and its natural to try to eliminate what you fear. dvorak users think the qwerty layout is evil because it is. most dvorak users started out on qwerty and know it is. if you still think dvorak is evil try it out. if you learn it and still think its evil then you can keep your hedonistic qwerty layout. q: how did you get this vast amounts of knowledge? a: im a nerd. if you want to know more contact your local friendly neighborhood nerd. if your female and cute, then sleep with him, he probably needs it and will probably make a lot more money and spend a lot more time on you than any other "standard" boyfriend would do. thats just how nerds are. dvorak is also good if you have a bunch of qwerty friends who always want to come over and use your shit without telling you. first, if they know your password to get onto your pc, this will throw them for a loop because they wont see what your typing and think you have changed it. second they will open up ie and type ,,,vfrgygx.vjrm which is www.youtube.com on the qwerty layout. this should keep them off of ,,,virayvo. or ,,,vygxicpnvjrm (type those in qwerty using the dvorak layout) until you get off of work. you can see that ,,, is www and vjrm is .com, so i dare you to translate the center section. heres a hint: "vo." is ".se". this is the facinating site on which i learned all there is to know about the dvorak keyboard:
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enjoy. q's or c's hit me up smirnof100@msn.com
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